Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14 Read online

  It was good to have a quiet time when people could rest and hang out. Yawen was in charge on the Clever Dream, and the crew were on alert just in case an Order ship or over ambitious pirates showed up, but they could relax, socialize and watch a few local holographic live shows, which were rare finds in any great quantity. Doxan had hundreds of live channels, even a pirate one that celebrated a more base and brutal type of programming that Noro, Knud, Yawen and Krooke were glued to as the pirates replayed recordings of them playing vicious pranks on each other, like affixing a thruster to one of their friends that went off as soon as he stood up from his chair at an outdoor café. They changed the channel when the pirates started executing ransom victims who weren't paid for in time.

  Spending time out of armour and heavy boots felt good to Alice and most of the human crew, especially since she knew there would be long days in full armour ahead. She kept the powder blue suit as it was when it was time to join Noah on the Corsair so they could get to work then spend some time. She enjoyed the rise of attraction she felt from Noah when he saw her in it. There were instincts from the first time she was human, the kind that Alice used to use to distract and flirt with people that she was happy to recall. That Alice learned a lot about being human, and that included the language of flirting, which she was happy to practice on Noah, as she drew his gaze by stretching, giving him opportunities to observe her while he thought she wasn't looking. It was interesting that he didn't take the bait every time, as he often played the game of 'keeping it cool.' It was a nice reminder that the game of flirting was more fun with two good players.

  Compared to the rest of her crew, they had the most work to get through, and it was slow going for Noah and Alice. There were several appeals from people who wanted to meet him, but none had known ties to Mary Reed or claimed to be members of the Underground. A few claimed to know people in resistance groups, but there was no one who could actually say they fought or preyed on the Order of Eden in any way so far.

  The number of contacts approaching them through the local network was cut down by Elise and Lewis, even more so by Theodore, but the two captains still had to go through the remainder. There was also syncing up to do between the ships, which required access code swapping and more system checks than either of them cared to do, especially since Alice was feeling distracted. Their reunion was slowed by discipline and duty. They wanted to make time for each other without having a mountain of work looming ahead, and they started with the least exciting stuff first.

  It was difficult. Alice could sense how he felt, on the verge of excitement about her being there even after they calmed down and focused on the task at hand. Noah did get serious, he was good at staying on task, but when he took moments to glimpse at her the excitement resurged, and Alice wondered if it was all him or if she was adding her own elation to the mix. Either way, it made it hard for her to concentrate.

  While they were looking through people trying to set a meeting to buy arms, Alice closed her eyes and tried to meditate for a moment. Life was simpler when she didn't feel everyone else's emotions more than her own, and she tried to raise the wall around her mind. Noah had that quiet mind set she felt from people when they were working or watching something. He was feeling impatient as he watched a pre-recorded message from a polite petitioner she could overhear; "…I ask that you ignore my criminal record, I am not the thief the authorities think I am. I transport goods that most fabricators can't produce without breaking down regularly, like so many others, and I'd like to expand my business but I require the means to better defend my concerns," the fellow went on, going into details about his operations and why he needed military grade ship weaponry. Even though there was plenty of boredom and a little impatience, there was an underlying hum of happiness, and she smiled, her eyes still closed as she felt it was inspired by her.

  Wait, I'm supposed to be closing the outside off, I want to be uncontaminated by what other people are feeling. Alice thought to herself, trying to pull away from the sense that made her more open than she thought anyone could be. The hum coming from Noah changed, like there was a hiccup, then she felt his concern. "You okay? I mean, we're almost finished, I could watch the last few messages."

  With a shake of her head, Alice opened her eyes. He was taking her hand, and she knit her fingers between his. "I'm fine, I just couldn't look at this guy much longer." A nod directed his gaze at the petitioner she was supposed to pay attention to, a man with a thin third nostril in the middle of his nose between the normal pair and an extra set of cybernetic eyes above the human ones. "…need a retailer on the ground, on Doxan Four. The atmosphere is toxic to most humans, but I have the mods, I can breathe the air. I could sell to the races who land here for you if you advance me the first gun shipment. I could sell shields too, you know, and other stuff."

  "I see what you mean. He's a little hard to look at. Which eyes do you focus on? The ones he got installed or the factory originals? How much input can you wire into one brain?" Noah asked, cringing at the question as soon as he finished talking. "I'm sorry, I mean cybernetics, not, uh."

  Alice put a finger across his lips and paused the playback. "It's fine, I'm not offended. I think we found something though," she reversed the recording for a moment then played it back. "…and other stuff," the cyborg said. "I shouldn't say this on this transmission, but I know there are people who take on the Order here, I see their ships every once in a while, from my bunker. Those things are repainted, but I know Order fighters and corvettes when I see them. I know they stole 'em, and I can get to that market for you." Alice paused the recording. "Maybe he's actually got contacts," she said.

  "That's why Lewis and I agreed to forward it to you. He attached several recordings of Order of Eden combat shuttles, a gunship and two corvettes. We have his location on Doxan Four as well, but he advises that he will be communication dark for another forty-one hours from now. If he sends outgoing signals his bunker will be discovered by the authorities," Elise said. "Which authorities he's talking about, and why they would care about his bunker are things we couldn't determine. Theodore suggests that he's paranoid, perhaps a little delusional."

  "All right, then we follow up on his terms. We should have time to check Doxan Three out in the meantime," Alice said.

  "Sounds good," Noah agreed. "Let's get through the last three messages." He was eager, and a little anxious.

  They watched them together, fingers still intertwined as they held hands in the pilot and co-pilot seats on the small bridge. They were all just thugs looking to buy guns, one of them spat a few times during her recording, repeating; "I hate the Order, hate them!" but there was no proof that she had done anything to fight them in the past. Alice was stretching in her seat as the last one played, and she noticed a spike in his excitement as he stole a glance. "Can I get a tour?" she asked, sending him a little knowing smile.

  "Oh, yeah, sure," Noah said, getting out of his seat. She wasn't far behind, still trying to close her empathic ability off as she followed him through the crew quarters. They were the same as the ones in the Clever Dream, except the first mate's quarters were a storage area instead, and the furniture was collapsed down into its smallest configuration so they could be used for storage too. He was proud of his ship, it was fun to watch him get excited about it, even though most of the features he showed her were already aboard the Clever Dream.

  A few of the crew quarters already had security androids standing idle in them, ready for delivery to Angel's Landing. "I'm going to hold off on final delivery until I get a few answers from the administration there," Noah explained. "They paid me, I've got the platinum in the hold, but I want to put the screws to them a little, find out how much they had to do with the trouble we had there before I deliver."

  "Makes sense," Alice agreed. "How good are these bots?"

  "They're good for civilian security, but not great against the military." He closed the hatch and they moved on. "I like them because they look intimidating, wit
h that skull and bone type design."

  The round seat she enjoyed so much was absent from the Captain's quarters, but everything else was the same. It had its own food production fabricator, drink mixing machine, hidden refrigeration, roll-out work table, and a great big, luxurious sleeping area with a huge bed.

  They both stared at it for a moment before he cleared his throat and led the way out of the room; "Onward! There's a whole other deck!"

  The lower deck had a larger hold than the Clever Dream, and she could see where a couple fighters were installed to act like turrets until they launched. It was a solid improvement over the pair of turrets and automated weapons she had aboard the Clever Dreams' underside. The hold had a few of the bots within, but then she noticed one that looked a little different. "What's this?"

  "Oh, that's the militarized android that Elise built. It has an upgraded artificial intelligence, all the materials are to Haven Fleet standard, and there are a few surprises built in. It can follow us in that crazy heavy armour we put on."

  "It can fly?"

  "Yeah, some antigravity tech along with barrier thrusters, not quite the same as our armour, because there isn't much need to protect from g-forces."

  "It is a superior security android design. Military class with an obedient but advanced artificial intelligence with all the limitations set to conform to Fleet Security standards. I have three," Elise added proudly.

  "And why didn't you activate them when the pirates tried to drill through your shields?" Noah asked.

  "I didn't see the need. If the situation was more urgent I would have used them, but I had plenty of time to consult with you first."

  "Give them a trial run next time, okay? If you're unsure, use non-lethal measures first."

  "Oh, I'll install some. Right now, they're using an FDH-3 module as their primary offensive weapon. It's adjustable."

  "It's a small starfighter cannon," Alice snickered. "I can't even see where you put it in."

  "It's hidden. The modules run off the micro-fusion power plant and use concealed hand emitters. Do you want me to remove them?"

  "No, you just need to add more flexibility to these guys. I mean, blowing people in half makes a statement, but it's not the one we want to make all the time, not on this mission at least," Noah said, wide-eyed but amused.

  "I'll add a non-lethal option or two, my boys are a work in progress," Elise said.

  "Consult with Lewis and Theo, they'll probably have some good suggestions," Alice said. It was fun watching a highly intelligent but new artificial intelligence learn, Lewis had mostly outgrown that phase.

  "And I'm afraid that's the end of the tour, unless you want to take a walk on the hull," Noah said, raising his arms like a showman.

  Alice could feel his nervousness like a storm rolling through her head, and she tried not to wince. With the tour over, but hours ahead of them to relax on the ship together, alone, he was nearly overcome with uncertainty.

  "I know," Noah sighed. "There really isn't much difference between this and the Clever Dream. You know, except the Dream has some of the luxury stuff." He paused a moment. "Hey, are you okay?"

  "I'm just having trouble," Alice replied. "It's not painful or anything, there's nothing you can do, it's just… I wish I could only be aware of my feelings."

  "What's going on in there?" Noah asked, taking her hand and turning to face her. "Or in here?" he pointed at his own temple.

  "Nervous," Alice responded. "You're nervous because we haven't had a lot of time alone. Any time, really."

  "All that?" he asked. "The feels and the why's of it too?"

  "No, just the feelings, I guess the rest is an assumption," she admitted.

  "What if I'm nervous about what you think of my ship?" he asked, his voice growing quieter. "I mean, it's not just my pride on the line, here, there's Elise too."

  Alice laughed a little and shook her head. The wave of nervousness from him was beginning to recede, there was affection beneath, it felt good, but it was still almost too much. Blushing, shaking a little as she looked up at him, Noah had confidence that she faintly remembered having herself in a different life as his lips turned up into a little smile. "It's a great ship," she said. "That's not why you're nervous, I bet. There's such a mix of things going on in you, it's not confusing, though. Everything goes together, even the nervousness, which is like a warm kind of excitement, really."

  "You're an amazing, complicated woman," Noah said. "Of course I'm a little anxious, but are you sure that's all coming from me? I don't know much about what's going on in there," he caressed her cheek lightly. "But I know I wasn't so nervous that I looked like I was about to fall over. You're blushing, I'm not, and I can turn red sometimes, trust me."

  "Maybe I'm feeling both of us," she said, the explanation resounding through her thoughts. It was the simplest answer, the one that rung true.

  Laying a hand on the chest of his dark vacsuit, something she did unconsciously, she became aware of how good it looked on him. He spoke to her softly, blue eyes peering into hers. "Could there be some way to tell the difference between feelings I'm having and your own? Excitement can't feel exactly the same from one person to the next. Maybe it's like when someone describes something to two different people and they try to draw it, but the drawings come out looking different."

  "Perception. Interpretation. Nuance," Alice whispered, investigating the wave moving through her mind, and then she found it. There was a sense, an underlying tone under everything he was exuding that marked emotions as his and his alone. There was that confidence again, a little nervousness, attraction, sure, but so much more affection. "I can feel…" she grinned, blushing deeply, "…you. It's like knowing your name, but so much more. I feel better, I feel…" Nervous! She was so nervous about everything going on! His fingertips gently tracing the edge of her jaw, how they were standing so close, how she hoped they could meet the expectations she had, what might happen, and most of all; whether seeing her go through all this would make him think she was a freak. There was a deeper cause for the anxiety, though, and it was what made her blush; the growing passion she had for him. Their emotions were finally separated in her mind, and that breakthrough, having it right when she really needed it to happen made her so happy that she hopped on her heels a little. "I know what's mine and yours now. It's so obvious that I can't believe I didn't figure it out before."

  "You feel better?" he asked, his head lowering, lips drawing closer.

  "So much…" they connected, lip to lip. A thousand butterflies in her stomach dissipated as they started kissing slowly. When his hands lowered to her waist, feeling big but light as they rested there, she invited him to stay and start a warm, enthusiastic lip-lock. Her hands drifted up from his chest to his shoulders, feeling their way to the back of his neck, then up the stubble on the back of his head. As she ran her fingers down his scalp Alice realized he liked that, and she made that the playground for her digits while their kiss continued, warm amorous sensations rising in them both.

  A squeak against the deck behind him drew her attention, and she opened her lids a crack in time to spot the custom security bot frozen in a sneaking position behind Noah, looking at her. She could swear its normally glowering, heavy browed visage looked worried, unhappy that it made any noise at all, and she snickered.

  Noah straightened, looked at her, then behind him. The android waved, then resumed its sneaking. "I'm controlling that, I'm so sorry," Elise said. "I didn't mean to interrupt but I thought it would be better to add the modifications to the security bots I designed sooner rather than later just in case. I really didn't mean to interrupt, it looked like you were having such a good time."

  After a moment of snickering that quickly grew into outright laughter, Noah nodded. "It's okay, I'm surprised we noticed."

  "Oh, good, I really didn't want to break that fascinating moment up," Elise said.

  "Crew lounge?" Alice offered, taking his hand.

  "Yeah. Wait, it's full
of equipment cases, stuff reserved for whoever joins my crew," he replied.

  "Then bedroom," she said, feeling anticipation and anxiety spike in him. "But I want to take it slow, flyboy," she added with a raised eyebrow. "It's not about the destination, but the journey."

  Noah nodded, happy about the stipulation.

  "Could you clarify that statement at all, Alice?" Elise asked.

  Alice ran for the lift, Noah close behind, and he caught her in an embrace when he arrived. "Nope, too distracted, Elise, sorry." They couldn't resist resuming their kiss, even though the lift ride was less than ten seconds long.

  "Humans. It's amazing you get anything done with all those pheromones wafting around," Elise sighed.

  Four

  Jungle Rules

  * * *

  The further they got away from Haven Shore, the thicker the jungle became. The only control the environment systems had was the day to night cycle. The sudden tropical downpour that drenched him and his fellow pickers in the deep jungle was common there, and the system wouldn't interfere. "I hate this crap," Austin said, spitting water into the rain. "It's like someone up there poured a bucket on our heads." He was Nigel's buddy for the day, it was the first time they'd been paired up.

  The drenching stopped as suddenly as it began. Some of the water went down Nigel's back. He didn't mind the initial little rivulet, it was cool, but that would get uncomfortable later. "And just like that, it's gone," he said, looking to Austin. They were behind and to the left of the main group, expected to fill their net packs in the next three hours. It was exactly as Nigel wanted. The soldiers were looking after the people breaking new trails, and none of the other pickers were close enough to see them. It was rough, sure, and they had to climb for fruit, but there was still plenty of food to find.